Territory - Prequel (20 page)

“Are you okay?”

He couldn’t miss the alarm in Chloe’s tone and realized he’d squared his feet, balled his hands into tight fists and was
breathing raggedly as he barely restrained
himself from pouncing on her.
  In that moment he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his whole life.  So much so that he actually feared for her virtue. 

He blinked and knew the movement was too slow.  Her aroma
had him drugged, and like an addict he needed more.  He knew better than to breath
e in
any more of her scent, but he couldn’t
seem to stop his
wolf from surging forth and drawing in a long deep inhalation
and even through her bulky winter gear he scented
her sweet, heady wetness.  His eyes drifted closed and he groaned falling to his knees.

“Dell!” Chloe dropped and grabbed his shoulder and that was all it took.

With animalistic speed he grabbed one wrist and then the other, forcing her
to the ground and pinning her with his weight. 

Her eyes grew wide in shock
.  She
felt his bare hands clamped on the flesh of her wrists and she
waited for the familiar draining to render her unconscious, but it never came.  She di
dn’t struggle, already afraid of
what she’d done to make Dell so angry. 

As he shifted his weight over her, she stilled
in
understanding as she felt the thick hard length of his erection pressing against her sex.  She opened her mouth to speak but didn’t get the chance.  Dell’s
mouth dropped to hers and his
tongue plunged inside, drawing hers forth a
nd stealing her breath.  He held
her arms pinned with one of his large hands
high
over her head while his other hand splay
ed
possessively against her ribcage. 

He noted that at first she’d been taken aback, but
slowly,
she tentatively returned his
demanding
kiss.  And kiss her he di
d. 

His tongue dove deep,
savoring
the sweet
cinnamon
taste of her.  He wondered if she’d taste just as sweet elsewhere and the thought drew forth a growl so deep and viscous that he’d been certain she would recoil
in fear
. 

When she didn’t
,
he pressed his groin harder against her sex, drawing forth a soft moan from her parted lips
that had him dying to claim her.  His kiss was brutal, but he couldn’t control
himself.  When he nipped her lip and tasted the coppery tang of blood, he
tried to pull back but she followed him.  He
drew her offended lip between his and sucked her blood into his mouth.  He wanted her,
all
of her.

He was lifting his hand higher
on her body
when his wolf suddenly tensed, sensing something.

Dell pulled back and scanned the area. 

“Dell, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked breathlessly. 

He’d dropped his guard, too consumed with mating to be on alert.  It only took him a seco
nd to scent the intruder, a
shifter not of his
pack
.
  He jumped up, pulling Chloe
easily
up with him
in one fluid movement before
he shoved
her behind him.  He scanned the area as his muscles bunched.  Whoever had the audacity to interrupt his make-out session was about to pay for it.

There’s a stranger on the premises!
  Cindy’s alarmed words carried to him through the pack ties.

“What’s happening?”  Behind him, Chloe had finally caught her breath and was clearly having trouble understanding the sudden transition in mood.

He was about to answer her when a figure stepped out from the tree line a mere
few
feet away. 
The man approached cautiously, hands held high.

“Brother, I come in peace.”

Dell growled.  There were many ways f
or an outsider to
introduce
himself
to the Alpha of
a
territory
, and this wasn’t one of them
.

Dell kept his eyes on the stranger but turned to
growl
at
Chloe, “Get in the house.
”

She didn’t ask any que
stions, doing as Dell commanded.
She
rushed from his side and
was halfway to the house when the back door was shoved open. 
Mama stood there, frowning at the stranger, and
to Chloe’s relief,
Cindy
suddenly
bounded
out from th
e tree line nearest the house, her
dark
hair
pulled back in a tight pony
tail
.
She strode past Chloe, never taking her eyes off the stranger as she eyed him intently. 

When Chloe reached the house,
Stevie an
d the girl Hannah brushed past M
ama and jogged to take their place next to Cindy and Dell as they confronted the stranger. 

“I-is everything alright?”

Like Chloe, Mama kept her eyes fixed on th
e stranger.  “He’s a stranger. 
U
ninvited.
  It’s unusual for him to approach in such a manner.  It could be considered hostile.”

Oh God, the men!
  Chloe turned to Mama as panic hitched her tone.  “Aren’t there any mated men in the clan?”

“You betcha!” Pony stepped out of the house
followed closely by AJ.  The pair
casually stro
de toward Dell
and the stranger, seemingly non-
pulsed by everyone else’s
state of alarm
.

“Thank God!”

“Mmhmm,” Mama nodded her
concurrence at the statement.

They watched from a distance unsure of what was happening.  After several minutes Chloe asked, “Is AJ mated?”

Mama smiled, “No, but he’s too young
to be considered a viable mate for you.  Dell doesn’t consider him
a threat.
”

“A threat?  Is that what he thinks of the other men that were sent away?  Even Briggs?”

Mama nodded. 
“It’s not Dell.  It’s his wolf.
  The males are extremely possessive and protective.  None more so than the Alpha.  He’d hurt one of them just for looking at you.
  You
belong to him, but he hasn’t staked that claim, so right now anyone could claim you.  It’s a very precarious time.
  He’s more on edge.  H
is instincts are to protect and to claim you.
”

Chloe blushed and then was relieved when she saw Dell and the pack returning to the house.  The stranger followed.

***

“I don’t want you going near him!” Dell commanded in clear agitation.

“I-I wouldn’t.” She was shaking her head even as Dell reached up to help her unzip her bulky coat.

“He’ll stay in the barn, we’ve got a guest house there for
these types of
situations,
but I don’t trust him.”

“If you don’t trust him,” Chloe shimmied out of the coat watching
him
intently, “then why let him stay?”

“I don’t
have much choice in the
matter,
”
h
e
huffed as he hung her coat in the closet and
returned to help her unfasten her overalls.  “He’s from an ally pack, it’s proper form for me to welcome him here.  Even if…”

Chloe’s fingers stilled on
the buttons at her hips, “If what?”

“He’s a viable mate
for you
Chloe.  For his safety you’ll need to stay clear of him.  He’s been warned that you’re here.”

Her brows hiked, “Warned that
I’m
here?  I’m not a threat.  A
m I?”

Grabbing her arms, he pulled her until she was inches from his face.  His grim features drawn tight
, “You are a threat to his well-
being because I’d kill him if he approached you.”

She smiled weakly intending on teasing him about his suddenly possessive nature, but her smile faded quickly when Dell growled.

“This isn’t a game Chloe.  When I say I’d kill him I don’t mean in the figurative sense.”  His hold on her arms tightened, “I would literally rip him apart.”

She knew
the color drained from her face.  She tried to regain her composure, but wasn’t quick enough. 

Dell sighed heavily and dropped his eyes to his hands
clamped on her arms
before he quickly released her and took a step back.  “I’d never hurt you Chloe.”

Afraid her voice would reveal her fear she simply nodded.

“Fuck!” he closed his eyes a moment then smiled w
eakly
at her.  “
Stevie’ll take you to your room. 
Try and get some rest.”

“What about you?”

His smile widened, “I’m go
ing to make sure our visitor is
secure.”

Worried
,
Chloe fidgeted nervously with her slender fingers
before asking
, “Would he attack during the night?”

Dell pulled her close and ran large hands over her shoulders then down her back, pressing her body into his.  “He wouldn’t dare.  But as I said, I don’t trust him.  Cindy and Pony will
keep guard over him.  Our pack hasn’t survived this long by allowing just any wandering wolf into our midst.
  And you have the least to worry about.”  His eyes twinkled as she stared at her, “He’d have to get through me to get to you.
”  He bent and kissed the top of her head, “Thanks Stevie.”

Turning, Chloe was startled to see the petite Stevie smiling at her from the hallway.  Chloe turned to say goodnight to Dell, but he was already gone.

Chapter
18

“How was your
ride,” Stevie asked as she led Chloe down the hall then up a set of stairs.

“Great.  I’d never ridden one before today.”

Stevie turned to smile at her, “Did you meet the Porters?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “they seem really nice.”

“They are.  Phyllis really helped my Pony when he was in his young bad boy days.”
  Stevie stopped at the end of a hall that had doors staggered on either side.  One lone door stood at the end of the long hall and was the door that she pushed open.  “This is it!”

The first thing Chloe noticed was the masculinity of the room.  Probably the size of her apartment, the walls were painted a dark gun smoke gray.  To her left a king sized bed was centered against the wall.  The bedding was a darker gray than the walls, but the
satiny
duvet was folded back to reveal
crisp white sheets underneath; while a soft looking white fur was folded neatly across the foot of the bed.  A tall black leather headboard
with an
alligator
print patter
n
rose over the bed
.  Hung
neatly above th
e headboard
were two evenly spaced black and gray photos
,
o
ne of an all white wolf cub and the other of an all black wolf cub.
  A large charcoal colored rug lay across the flo
or in the center of the room; a
s large as it was, it didn’t cover nearly half the expanse of the floor. 

Shuffling to the black leather bench seat at the foot of the bed, Chloe plopped down and forced her mouth closed.  “Wow!”

Stevie laughed
, “It is pretty big isn’t it?”

“It’s,
”  C
hloe
looked around again, “wow!”  She cleared her throat, “But I think you brought me to the wrong room.  I was in a different one earlier.”

“That’s just a guest room,” Stevie supplied.

“Then what’s this?”

Smiling, Stevie crossed to a door
to the right of
the bed.  “Bathroom’s in here.” She rapped on the door with a knuckle as she passed it then pointed towar
d the wall of windows that sat to
the left of the bed
clear across the room
.   She
stalked to them quickly and
opened
French door
s
that Chloe
hadn’t
even realize
d
was there.  T
he long black
sheer curtains that
fell from the ceiling and
covered
nearly the entire
wall billowed in the cold night breeze.  “Balcony’s out her
e
, but you won’t get much use out of it ‘till summer.”